After Tristan Thompson and his agent, Rich Paul, failed to reach an agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a rookie-scale extension by the Oct. 31 deadline, speculation started to rise regarding Thompson's future with the team.
NBA scribe Chuck Myron thinks that Thompson may be the Cavs trade bait at the moment:
"I think so," Myron explains per Fansided. "There haven't been any reports or indications that the Cavs are thinking about moving you, but with Varejao signed to his new extension, I don't know that there's really a place for you, Tristan. Plus, offloading you instead of committing long-term money to you would allow the Cavs the chance to perhaps chase another marquee free agent when the salary cap shoots up in a few years."
The Cavs front office did manage to sign Center Anderson Varejao to an extension before the deadline but was unable to do so with Thompson. And its not that Thompson has suddenly become irrelevant with the arrival of Kevin Love because the Cavs still rely on his rebounding and toughness down low to win games. He proved his value in a recent win against the Chicago Bulls when he tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench (12 of those rebounds were offensive boards).
But Thompson is just 23 and could be a valuable trade asset if the Cavs decide to go in a different direction. According to Northeast Ohio Media Group, each side valued Thompson differently, resulting to the young forward becoming a restricted free agent on July 1. Rich Paul thinks that their will be plenty of money for his agent next summer in the free agency:
"The Cavs did feel they budged a little in the last-minute negotiations with Thompson on Friday. They offered Thompson more than $48 million over four years. Agent Rich Paul is gambling that Thompson can get more than that on the open market."
The Cavs will have the right to match any offer sheet on Thompson next summer but the young big man will surely be in demand. Losing him would surely be a setback given the time and resources that they have already spent on developing him. Maybe the Cavs would use him as trade bait? We will know soon.
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